A well-known sheet-like element transport apparatus is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,655. The apparatus therein includes, in particular, a rotating transport with two gripper-like pickups, namely, slots into which the leading edge of a sheet can be fed, at any one time, by infeed rollers in the area of a pickup site. Additionally, separate knurled rollers are arranged in the area of the pickup site that knurl and reinforce the sheets in the lateral direction, particularly their tail ends, in order to ensure a controlled transport movement of the sheet up into this tail area. The knurled rollers in the area of the pickup site are arranged in such a way that they do not impede the feeding by the infeed rollers, not even when the radius of the transport is changed. The knurled rollers also have a radial distance from the rotational axis of the transport that is larger than the minimal radius and smaller than the maximum radius of the transport.
A printing press, particularly a printing press operating electrophotographically, should be able to print the most diverse printing materials, particularly paper having different sheet lengths and paper weights. If an especially heavyweight paper is to be used, it is necessary, due to the stiffness of the paper, to curve this paper over a large curvature radius, in order to prevent permanent damage to the paper. At the same time, however, it is difficult to curve heavy paper over a large radius. The larger radius, however, also automatically effects a larger curvature circumference or path; that is, a larger path between the pickup and delivery sites. Thus, papers that are both short and heavy are especially difficult to handle. For example, for a paper weight of 300 grams per square meter, it is necessary to provide a minimum curvature radius of 90 mm. This necessarily leads, however, to a curvature length that is at least equal to the length of a DIN A4 sheet. Landscape or smaller formats can therefore flatten the curve over a wide area of the transport path due to their stiffness, thus impairing or endangering the transport as a whole. In order to solve this problem, it is not enough to assist the threading of the sheet in the area of the gripping roller by the knurled rollers, as recommended in the above-mentioned patent.